6
Addison looked around the hospital waiting room. Cooper Laughlin looked the worst. He’d done the most to ensure that Hudson was going to come out of this all right, but behind that grim face, she could tell he was devastated. Not that the others weren’t, but they were more pissed and out for blood. Coop was ready to exchange places with Hudson in a heartbeat.
“The nurse said the doctor is out of surgery. He’ll be in to talk to us in about ten minutes,” Declan said as he came into the waiting room and started to pass out cups of coffee.
Everybody but Conroy said thank you, he was already working on his computer, so he didn’t have time to look up.
He’d stayed behind to talk to the authorities at the house. Then when he’d shown up at the hospital, he’d had a brand-new iPad, and he’d given her a new computer, too. Since most of the damage at the house had been done on the first floor and the front of the house where the bedrooms were, their belongings were pretty much destroyed, as was the computer equipment that had been on the dining room table. Somehow, Conn had scrounged up new electronics in the middle of the night here in Skagit, Washington, and now he had his head buried in his.
Addison knew what he was doing. He was trying to see if there was anything, anything at all, that he might have done to trigger Frankenstein into knowing that they were on his trail. But if she also had to guess, this is how he dealt with his feelings, he shut down. Hiding behind a computer was his way of coping. She wondered who the woman was that everybody had teased him about. Maybe she would offer him some comfort.
“Here you go,” Declan said as he handed her a cup of coffee.
“Have we heard anything from Liam?” Addison asked.
“He’s tired and pissed and came up with nothing. He’ll be here soon.”
“I called Stacy,” Addison said.
“Hell, I didn’t even think of that,” Declan said as he sat down beside her. He held the lukewarm Styrofoam cup between his hands. “That should have been one of my first calls. If we were targeted it makes sense that she would be targeted as well.”
“I made her get onto a land-line before I filled her in.”
Declan raised an eyebrow. “So, you don’t think she’s a problem, but you do worry that she might be compromised?”
“We were hit within hours of her being told where we were. Prior to that, it was all contained within this group.”
Declan gave her a wan smile. “If Hudson weren’t getting out of surgery, it would do my heart good to be yanking Conn’s chain. He should have been all over that.”
She gave Liam’s nephew a sideways look. “And you would do that to your friend why?”
“Because it’s fun?”
She rolled her eyes. “You need more women working on this team.”
“That’s what Allie says all the time. You’d love her.”
“The FBI agent.”
“Yep,” he said with a proud smile. “We met on a mission. Thought she was going to kick my ass.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“Well, you are a bit like Liam, you would have a bit of a way to fall.”
Declan chuckled softly so nobody would notice. “You’re good for him.”
That caught her up short. Declan noticed. “Hey, no pressure, I’m not trying to butt in.”
She almost rolled her eyes again. He must have caught on that she wasn’t having any of his nonsense because he changed tacks. “So, you spoke to Stacy, huh? On a landline? Tell me, how do you think she was compromised? What’s your theory?”
The doctor walked into the waiting room, followed by Liam. Addison stood up so fast that her coffee sloshed onto the floor. Liam might be looking haggard, but to her, he looked wonderful.
The doctor was smiling.
“Your friend is going to be fine. One of the glass shards nicked his kidney, but we got the bleeding stopped. We should be able to release him day after tomorrow.”
She blew out a sigh of relief, even as she watched Liam striding over to her. He stopped and stood close. She wished it was even closer. His eyes roved up and down her frame. “Are you okay,” he asked intently.
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
That fired her up. She’d been so worried, she let loose. “I wasn’t the one who went half-cocked after some crazy man with an RPG. What were you thinking?”
She heard Declan snort and she spun around and gave him a dirty look. “No laughing and no butting in, remember?”
Declan held up his hands and walked away with a smirk on his face.
“It’s hard to get a bead on a boat in the dark. I was fine,” Liam said in a soothing voice.
She turned back to glare at Liam. “Don’t feed me that line of shit. They have night vision optic sights for RPG’s.”
Was that her raising her voice in a hospital?
Even the doctor was looking over at her.
Liam stroked his hand down one arm and took the cup of coffee out of her other. “Is this for me?” he asked.
“Give that back. You didn’t earn coffee.”
“Sure, he did. He didn’t get killed,” Declan said from where he was relaxing with his legs out, in the plastic chair.
“You. Butting out. Remember?” She glared at Declan.
“You’re not helping,” Liam said mildly. He took her hand and twined their fingers together. “Let’s take a walk.”
She tried to loosen his grip, but he held tight.
“Come on, we need to discuss how we can find Caroline. I have some ideas.”
Ah, hell. It was the one thing that would get her to follow him. Declan got up and walked over to where the doctor was talking to Cooper and Laird. Conroy was still engrossed in his computer.
“I called Stacy,” Liam said as they started down the hallway. “She said you had, too.”
Addison nodded.
“The good news is that we’ve got them running scared,” Liam said.
“How’s that good news? They might just kill Caroline and cut their losses.”
“Is that what you really think?” he asked as they got onto the elevator to go to the first floor. Addison didn’t answer since it was full of people. She was silent as they followed the crowd to the lobby. Liam tugged her toward the exit. The cold night air felt good.
“Addison?”
She took a moment to think. She’d been so panicked, that she hadn’t stepped back and looked at it from an analytical perspective until Liam had prompted her.
“You’re right. Now that I really consider it, I think that our guy has a deep-seated need to kill these women slowly. He didn’t set up some kind of hidey-hole in Mexico for something fast. It makes my skin crawl to think about it. Does he torture them? Rape them? We don’t know. All we know is that they end up dead, and he ends up with a trophy. But we do know he has a compulsion, and based on the age of the last dog tag, he needs this kill.”
“Exactly.” Liam concurred. “With his Mexico hideaway taken away, I think he’s got to hang onto Caroline, he can’t afford just to get rid of her.”
He drew her over to a wooden bench and urged her to sit down next to him.
“Did you find out anything, chasing after the shooter?”
He shook his head. “It was a total bust,” he said disgustedly. “I asked Stacy to check with the local authorities to see if anybody reported a boat missing. If they didn’t, then I think it’s safe to say that he’s set up shop here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that he’s done the same thing Conroy did. He’s rented a house and a boat. So, he and his minions have an established base of operations.”
“Where did you chase him to?”
Liam pulled out his phone and pulled up a map of Whidbey Island. “Do you see this inlet? There were a whole hell of a lot of homes with docks and boats. There was just no way to know which one he could have used.”
She looked up at his frustrated expression. “Do you th
ink that’s where they’re staying?”
“It’s the only start we have. Stacy’s already contacted one of her friends who knows Whidbey like the back of his hand. He can head out at first light. I’m heading over to the island soon. I wanted to check on Hudson…and you.”
His blue eyes gleamed in the moonlight. “Hudson’s going to be fine. You heard what the doctor said.”
“And you? You’ve never lived through an attack like that. How are you doing?”
“I vote for it never happening again?” she grinned wryly. “Do I get to make that call?”
Liam laughed. “Sure, go sit on Santa’s lap and ask him.”
“Smartass.” She’d always liked that about him. She’d always liked being able to tease with Liam when things got tough—it was nice to see that hadn’t changed. He reached over and splayed his fingers through the hair at the nape of her neck. She leaned into the caress.
“Are you really okay?” he asked softly.
She took a deep breath. Then another. She leaned her shoulder against his. “I am now. You scared the hell out of me taking off in the boat,” she whispered.
“It was the first real chance we had to find Caroline, I didn’t have a choice.” His fingers started to knead her scalp. It felt so good.
“I suppose Liam being Liam, you didn’t have a choice.”
She felt his shoulder shake under her head. He put his arm around her and pulled her in close. “We’re a little closer to finding her, Baby. You know that’s the important thing. We can’t leave her with that monster.”
“Frankenstein.”
“I refuse to trivialize him.”
Her eyes stung. He was right. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean that as a rebuke, Addison.” He tilted her chin up. “Fuck, look at you, you’re freezing. We need to get you inside where it’s warm.”
“Just hold me, that’s good enough.”
“No, it’s not. This damn shirt is too thin.” He got up and held out his hand for her. She clasped it and he pulled her up into his arms. How could he be so warm? Liam started walking, but not back toward the hospital.
“Where are we going?
“Conroy texted all of us with our room information at the Skagit Hideaway Inn. I drove by it on the way over here. I’m thinking I would have gotten you at least a Motel Four or Five.”
“It can’t be that bad.”
“Oh ye of little imagination,” he quipped as he walked up to a blue sedan.
“And he arranged a car for you?”
“These guys are like the Secret Service, DHS, NHA, Interpol, and the Masons all rolled into one. They can get you cookies, cars, computers, and condoms at the drop of a hat.”
“Condoms?” Addison asked as Liam opened the door for her.
“Get inside and I’ll tell you a story.”
“I didn’t find your story funny,” Addison said as she flipped on the light switch to a very sketchy room.
“I’m not finding this room funny. Stay right here.” Liam strode towards the bathroom, past two beds that had lime-and-baby-puke-colored bedspreads.
“Oh for God’s sake. You are not staying in this room.” His voice echoed as he spoke into the bathroom. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her start toward him. Liam stepped back out and turned off the light. “I told you to stay where you were.”
“Like that ever worked. Come on, I want to see. How bad could it be?”
“There’s a fucking hole in the ceiling,” he growled.
“No there’s not.” She tried to push past him to see.
“Yes, there is. And there’s more.”
“What?”
“Spiders.”
She shuddered. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Nope.”
“You are.” He knew she hated spiders, and here she thought he was teasing.
“Seriously, Honey, don’t look. It’ll spook you.”
She just shook her head and grinned at him. She pushed past him and turned on the light. He waited for it.
“Ahhh!”
He didn’t let her jump too far, just so that her back hit his chest. He reached around her and turned off the light.
“Don’t laugh at me.”
“I wouldn’t laugh. I know you have a real phobia.”
She headed for the door of the motel room and he followed.
“I’m going to have a talk with the manager.”
She looked up at him. She must have seen something on his face.
“Oh, one of those kinds of talks.”
“Damned straight.”
“Where are we going to stay?”
“Hell, even the car would be better than here.”
He got her tucked into the car and then had the talk with the manager. He explained a friend would be back to check things over. He’d not be happy if things hadn’t improved. Liam was satisfied that he’d been heard. He got on the phone with Conroy on his way back to the sedan he’d left running so Addison had heat.
“Find someplace else, that was a miserable piece of shit.”
“You’ll have a forty-minute drive. Addison’s taking Hudson’s place tomorrow with Stacy and that’s at seven a.m., that’s five hours from now,” Conroy clipped out.
“No, she’s not. I’m changing the time. Book the room. Text me with the address.”
He hung up.
God help him, the man might be able to arrange shit and be a miracle worker on the computers, but common sense seemed to escape him.
When Liam got to the driver’s side door, he saw that Addison was asleep. He tapped lightly on the window and she sat up. She leaned over and unlocked the door.
“Sorry about that.” She yawned.
“Go back to sleep. We’ve got a drive ahead of us, then a good place to sleep.”
“No spiders?”
“No spiders.”
7
Everybody but Cooper caught the ferry to Whidbey Island the next day. They all had their assignments. Addison and Conroy were meeting with Stacy at two o’clock. Meanwhile, Declan, Laird, and Liam were all meeting up with Steve and Roger Harrison, who had been recommended by Stacy. They were going to give them a lay of the land. Liam had talked to the Harrison brothers earlier on the phone, to coordinate a meeting at an out-of-business grocery store parking lot.
“It’s been two and a half days,” Declan said as they walked across the parking lot to the Chevy Tahoe. “What are we going to find?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Liam admitted. “The women we found in Mexico were Riaz’s victims. I have no idea what kind of thing the bastard did to those victims he found from the Navy. I don’t know how long he kept them alive, what he did to them, or what he did to their bodies.”
“Is there any chance they’re still alive?” Declan asked.
“Everything Addison has explained from her time studying profiling is that souvenirs like the dog tags would only have been taken after they killed them. So no, they’re not alive.”
“We’ve got to get Caroline back.”
Two wiry older men came around from behind the SUV. They looked identical.
“Hello. Who’s in charge?” the man on the right asked.
Declan pointed his thumb at Liam.
“I am.” Liam held out his hand. “Liam McAllister. This is my nephew, Declan. We have one more man coming, he was further back on the ferry. He should be here shortly.”
“I’m Steve, this is my brother Roger. Don’t worry if you call us by the wrong name, it won’t matter. Stacy called me and said you had something that you needed to keep quiet but was a matter of life and death. We’re your men.”
“Why?” Declan asked pointedly.
“Life and death trump everything else,” the other twin spoke up. “If we need to stand on our heads and whistle Dixie to save a life, we’re in.”
Liam liked them. He turned as he heard another engine. It took a moment for the red compact car to pull up to them. De
clan laughed.
“Quit laughing,” Laird said as he unfolded his big frame from the small car. “I still don’t understand why Conroy couldn’t have found a bigger car.”
“Laird Campbell, this is Steve and Roger, they know their way around here. Let me fill you in. We’re looking for a woman who went missing between fifty to sixty hours ago. She’s a sailor so she has that training as well as mixed martial arts, but we think she would be up against three men.”
Two pairs of identical brown eyes went flat. “What else do you have?”
“I followed a boat that went into the inlet near Beverly Beach. When women were taken in the past, it was in an isolated area.”
The brothers moved as one. One of them pulled down the back end of the Chevy Tahoe, and the other reached in and brought out rolled-up maps. They worked as a team to unroll them.
“Do you see these houses on the water here on Honeymoon Bay? These are the ones with most of the docks.”
Liam nodded.
“Some of these houses are rentals, they’re somewhat isolated. Usually, there’s about an acre of land between properties. Would there be much noise going on if your girl was taken?”
“Not sure,” Liam said. “But let’s assume there was. What then?”
“I’d say those are out. The neighbors would check in or call in on uncommon sounds. It’s a tightknit community out here. They tend to check in on the rental properties as a favor to their neighbors, and especially if they thought funny-business was going on.”
“What about back in these trees?” Declan said.
Twin number two grimaced. “Nope.” He pulled out another map. “That’s the start of new construction. This place is overrun with new neighborhoods. Harmony This, and Rainbow That.” The man was not happy about having his part of the world being encroached on.
“Our best bet is Trillium Forest. It’s supposed to be clear of buildings, but there have been shacks that have popped up from time to time.”
Liam and Laird looked at one another.
“Did you say shacks?” Laird asked.
“What do you mean popped up?” Liam questioned.
“People who haven’t been able to cope with living in the real world have carved out lives for themselves in the woods. Usually, it happens more on the Peninsula, but that’s become more of a haven for meth-heads and there are easily a hundred meth labs over there. So, Roger and I have found families living here and Dugualla.” The man sighed. “It’s sad. We just leave them alone.”
SEAL at Sunrise (Silver SEALs Book 12) Page 7
